About 25% of all pregnancies are unplanned. While age, marital status, social class and contraceptive practice have all been considered, little attention has been paid to alcohol as a possible aetiological factor. The present study based on a questionnaire was devised to ascertain the role of alcohol in conception. One hundred and sixteen pregnant women participated and these were attending the ante-natal clinic for the first time. In only 2 cases was alcohol thought to be a likely factor in conception although only a few had never consumed alcohol. A further study on 100 clients attending the regional day care abortion unit revealed that less than one tenth felt that alcohol was a factor in the conception. Unplanned pregnancies may result from alcohol consumption in less than 10% of cases, lack of motivation to use some form of contraception would appear to play a more prominent part.